Page 68 of Pirate

He didn’t know if she was being cryptic for the kids’ sake or if that was just what she was going to be calling her creepy nighttime visitor from now on. At the very least, it was entirely accurate. “It seems too coincidental not to be,” he saidsympathetically. “But I’m not willing to jump to any conclusions. It was parked in a publicly accessible parking lot overnight. Mount Grove is a small town but there is mischief wherever you live.”

“Vandals just happen to choose my car in the middle of a crowded parking lot in the center of a small town?” Sophia raised a skeptical eyebrow, her tone almost mocking.

“We’ll figure it out,” he assured her again.

When Pirate turned around to face forward again, he and Demo exchanged a meaningful look. Pirate was trying to portray calm. Whatever was going on at Jenna and Steel’s was massive enough to call all of the MC to their house. That in and of itself was worrisome. Many had suspected something was going on with Jenna for months now. At first, they’d thought it was fatigue leftover from the holidays. Jenna did so much during October, November, and December that it wasn’t surprising she was wiped out in January. But then January turned into February, February into March, and now they were in April. She still acted like herself, personality wise, but there wassomethingnot right. There was almost alagto her. For someone who rarely sat down before or passed on lending a hand, Jenna had been doing a lot of delegating in recent months.

And beyond worry for the first ol’ lady of the club, the matriarch and Steel’s much better half, Pirate was trying to tamp down the fury he felt at Sophia’s tires being slashed. Of course it was her Boot Mover. Who the hell else could it have been? He knew it and so did she. The fact that he’d found her at the apartment complex meant that he’d followed her.

Did he know about her and Pirate? Was he pissed? Why break into her house only to move her shoes? It made no sense to Pirate. What was the end game? Between the boots and now her tires, Pirate could only think of him wanting to be annoying, a nuisance. Which still did not give a clear indication to his goals.

Fletcher Montague was still the obvious suspect. He and Sophia had a history after all and she’d ignored his demand for them to meet up. And yet, Pirate knew it hadn’t been him. At least, not on Monday night. Fletcher was not the Boot Mover. But did that mean he wasn’t the Tire Slasher?

What were the odds that Sophia would havetwopeople after her? If so, were they connected? Working together or working separately?

How could he keep her safe?

The club had failed Sophia and Jasmine last year. Sophia had been kidnapped from her parents’ estate. At the time, they hadn’t had a security system, believing in the sanctity of small-town life. Demo had been shot trying to save Jasmine from being abducted.

No one wanted a repeat of last August.

Pirate didn’t know what or who was coming for Sophia—but he knew he’d be standing between her and it.

Steel’s livingroom had never been so packed. The house used to belong to the distillery owners and hadn’t been well maintained. When the club had purchased the property, Steel and Jenna moved in under the stipulation that the club would help fix it up. Steel viewed it as a bonding experience for the members and work for the prospects. Once the house was to Jenna’s specifications, the club moved on to fixing up the clubhouse and so on.

The house was small but loved. It was two stories with a living room, kitchen, dining room, and den on the first floor. Upstairs had two bedrooms and two bathrooms. When the club had been formed, Jenna and Steel’s youngest children, Jordanand Melanie, had also been living at home. The den on the first floor had been Jordan’s bedroom, as Jordan was seventeen at the time and would soon be leaving the house. Melanie had graduated the year before and was finishing up her freshman year of college.

Her old bedroom now belonged to Ollie, the sixteen year old foster child that Steel and Jenna had adopted. Ollie had grown up in a different MC and had been discovered by Steel when he, Bulldog, Jumper, and Ghost had gone to confront the Black Python’s President. Ollie’s mother was one of the women the club kept around. Not only addicted to drugs, she had participated in their amateur porn productions. She’d also willingly given Ollie away, not knowing a damn thing about Steel or the VDMC. She’d never asked where Ollie was going or what his life would be like. Even after getting clean in a rehab center, she had never tried to find Ollie.

Steel and Jenna’s living room had a long couch with a matching love seat. Their fireplace was closed up for the summer and had a metal plate covering the mouth. Pictures of family vacations, holidays, and parties lined the wood mantle. Above it was a large wedding portrait featuring a young Jenna and Steel with a courthouse behind them.

The club consisted of nineteen members, including the seven officers. Additionally, there were eight ol’ ladies, including Louisa and Sophia. Aside from two day old Stephanie, none of the club kids were present. They were currently being watched at the clubhouse by Frankie and Yelizaveta with the assistance of teens Ollie, Aaron, and Bree. There was almost no breathing room and certainly no elbow room in the small living room.

No one was talking and the only movement was the occasional twist of the hips to try to get more comfortable. Someone commented that everyone better be wearing deodorant, but there were only a few light chuckles.

Bear, Tessa, Paige, Jenna, and Steel were still upstairs. Even with the absence of five, they were packed in like sardines. The fact that the three people missing were the medical professionals within the club made it glaringly obvious that the conversation that was about to take place was not going to be a pleasant one.

What seemed like hours later, Jenna’s voice carried down to them. She sounded like herself, not weak or sickly. That seemed to throw some of them. “Jack, I can walk! You don’t need to carry me. Put me down!”

There was no verbal reply from Steel, or at least not one that they were able to hear from the floor below. Then they heard the creaking of the floor and boots coming down the stairs.

As one, the crowd turned to see Steel carrying Jenna bridal style down the steps. Bear, Tessa, and Paige followed silently behind the couple.

Members parted like the Red Sea to allow Steel to carry Jenna into the living room. Immediately space was made on the loveseat for them. Steel did not place Jenna down and then sit next to her, though. He planted himself on the loveseat with Jenna on his lap and continued to hold her to his chest.

Jenna wore a pair of lounge pants and a tank top. The start of a bruise was evident on her right arm that was facing her friends and family. Another marked her cheek.

The idea that Steel laid his hands on Jenna crossed no one’s mind. It wasn’t even a consideration. Blasphemous. Steel was incapable of harming Jenna.

The club knew the basics about their origin story. Steel and Jenna were high school sweethearts, but Steel was from the wrong side of the tracks as it was. Even with plans of joining the Marines and giving Jenna a good life, her father still would not have it. He tried to pay Steel off to leave and never contact Jenna again. Rumor has it, Steeldidtake that money—but he used it to pay for Jenna and his wedding.

Three kids and thirty-nine years later, they were still going strong. Not only had they taken on the club and ran their own business, but they also adopted Ollie.

The VDMC, at its core, was a testimony to this amazingly selfless couple.

No one spoke for a long time. Everyone was frozen as they waited for the axe to fall. Because, maybe, if it wasn’t spoken, then it wouldn’t be true.

Slowly, Jenna sat upright. From her seat upon his lap, she stared down at her gruff husband. Cupping his face, she said, “It’s time. We’ve kept it from them long enough.”

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